Who runs the legal system?

England and Wales

The responsibility for running the legal system in England and Wales is divided between the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.

Scotland

The Scottish Executive Justice Department is responsible for the Scottish legal system.

Northern Ireland

The UK Ministry of Justice and the Northern Ireland Office are responsible for the legal system in Northern Ireland. You can also find useful information on the Criminal Justice System Northern Ireland website.

Courts

In principle, all UK courts hear and adjudicate on similar kinds ofoffences, although there are some differences in the way they work in different countries.

Each country has its own courts service which processes most cases. In England and Wales most courts are run by HM Courts Service. District courts in Scotland are run by the Scottish Justices Association, but will eventually come under the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts Service. The Northern Ireland Courts Service is responsible for courts in the province.

The judicial part of the House of Lords in England hears final appeals against criminal and civil sentences from courts in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. At the moment in Scotland only civil cases can be appealed to the Lords.

In 2009 the House of Lords judicial function will be replaced by a new UK-wide Supreme Court that will hear final appeals against most criminal and civil cases in the UK.

Civil law

Civil law is concerned mostly with disputes between individuals orcorporate bodies, and covers a wide range of areas, including:

• landlord and tenant disputes
• insolvency
• small claims
• consumer disputes
• personal injury claims
• divorce cases
• race, sex and disability discrimination cases
• debt problems
• wills
• libel

England and Wales has a Civil Justice Council which oversees and coordinates the modernisation of the civil justice system. In Scotland this is dealt with by the Scottish Executive Civil Law and Civil Justice Department.

Criminal law

Criminal law in the UK involves the state making a case against individuals who are accused of committing a criminal offence. It covers crimes such as:

• assault
• rape
• sexual abuse
• criminal damage
• theft, robbery and burglary
• murder
• manslaughter
• grievous bodily harm
• conspiracy to defraud.

Each country has its own prosecution service, which decides whether or not cases should go ahead. Visit the Crown Prosecution Service website for information about the system in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland.

Each country also operates its own criminal justice system to coordinate the work of the police, the prosecution services and the courts - the Criminal Justice System for England and Wales, the Scottish Executive Criminal Justice Department, and the Criminal Justice System Northern Ireland.

Judges and lawyers

Judges

Judges, magistrates, recorders and sheriffs preside over courts and tribunals in the UK and hear the evidence in the cases before them. Judgment can be passed in a number of ways, for instance, by judges sitting on their own as they do in the English High Court or collectively as in magistrates' or sheriffs' courts.

What exactly is their role in a case brought before them? A criminal judge, magistrate, or sheriff passes sentence and can send an individual to prison if they are found guilty of an offence. However, their role in civil and family cases is often trying to resolve difficulties between parties, perhaps by awarding compensation or making a legally binding order, such as a restraining order.

Some interesting facts about judges' and magistrates' working lives can be found on the Judiciary of England and Wales website.

Find out how judges and other judicial candidates are recommended and appointed in England and Wales, in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

You will be able to find information about the courts which judges, magistrates and sheriffs preside over on each country's Court Service website.

Lawyers and solicitors

Lawyers, also known as barristers or advocates, represent either the accused or the defendant in court cases in the UK. You can findinformation about barristers in England and Wales on the Bar Council website, while details about solicitors are on the Law Society website.

Barristers are known as advocates in Scotland. You can find out more about them on the Faculty of Advocates website.

Northern Ireland works under the same system as England and Wales. Find out about barristers on the General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland website. Information about solicitors appears on the Law Society of Northern Ireland website.

Barristers and advocates can appear before all courts, but solicitors can only appear in the lower courts, where they have what isknown as 'rights of audience'. However, they can qualify as solicitoradvocates, which means they can appear in Crown and High Courts. Findout about how this works in England and Wales on the Solicitors' Association of Higher Court Advocates. You can find out about solicitor advocates in Scotland on the Society of Solicitor Advocates website.

Police

The police are organised geographically in the UK, and each region has its own force.

Each force in England, Wales and Scotland is overseen by a local police authority made up of local councillors, magistrates and independent members. Find out more about the system in England and Wales on the Home Office Police website. You can also find out about the Scottish system on the Scottish Government Police website.

In Northern Ireland, a Policing Board manages policing in the whole province.

All countries have a procedure for dealing with complaints against the police. Find out more about how to do this in England and Wales on the Independent Police Complaints Commission website, in Scotland on the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland website, and in Northern Ireland on the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland website.

Prisons

Scotland and Northern Ireland and each has its own prison service which runs and manages all its own jails. Find out more on the Scottish Prison Service and Northern Ireland Prison Service websites.

Most English and Welsh jails are run by HM Prison Service, although 7 are managed and financed privately.

All countries have a procedure for hearing complaints by prisoners. This can be done via the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales, the Scottish Prisons Complaints Commission and the Northern Ireland Prisoner Ombudsman.

European, international and human rights law

European law

European Community (EC) law, which applies in the UK, comes from EC treaties, Community legislation, and decisions taken by the European Court of Justice. Find out more in our European Union section.

Public international law

Public international law, which has recently made significant developments, focuses on the relationships between different countries. The United Nations has played a major role in this development, as hasthe International Criminal Court - which was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

Human rights law

The UK Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. The European Convention is administered by the European Court of Human Rights.

All UK public authorities, including the courts, must comply with these rights, although Parliament can overrule them if they go against an Act of Parliament. Find out more in our Human Rights section.